I’m not sure how anyone can take this man seriously. Oh, except that he’s got a non-zero chance of being the next president so I think maybe we should.
If I’m given a choice between those two turds, I won’t give my consent to either.
I agree that neither is an ideal candidate, but one of them is going to be president.
Simply abstaining is an act of cowardice.
2 Likes
I think you misspelt conscience.
4 Likes
How do you figure?
1 Like
Well then, you and I have different definitions of evidence. From his ramblings, I just took it as evidence that this man has not read the Bible but just tries to parrot the greatest hits and can’t even be bothered to parrot them correctly.
Of course, many of the GOP and most of Trump supporters aren’t coming across as savvy enough to even question the most basic of his statements. That’s fine for you and them, it’s not fine for me.
5 Likes
He’s not being mocked for keeping tight lipped about his religious beliefs. He’s being mocked because he says “I’M THE BEST CHRISTIAN EVER” and then gives mock-worthy replies when people ask him things about his professed faith.
If Bernie Sanders said stuff like “I’M A FANTASTIC, SUPER-DEVOUT JEW” and “THE TORAH IS MY FAVORITE BOOK” then you’d better believe people would make fun him if he couldn’t answer basic questions about Passover or keeping Kosher.
11 Likes
I think the important point is that he can’t remember any specific bits of the Bible (and possibly which bits are which) but couldn’t actually say so. It was like Zac Goldsmith, in a frantic attempt to obtain Hindu votes, announcing that he was a big fan of Bollywood films and then being unable to name any.
My own suggestion to politicians asked for favourite Biblical quotes is "Tempus tacendi et tempus loquendi "(Ecc 3.7) - there is a time to be silent and a time to speak.
4 Likes
There has never been even a moment in this campaign where Trump polled higher than Clinton. Surely with all the thousands (millions?) of stories the media has published about him, he should be polling higher than her by now, right? After all, he sure gets a lot more press than Hillary.
4 Likes
If 127 words that rambled completely off any conceivable relationship to the question is “terse”, I’d hate to see the alternative.
7 Likes
It’s certainly true that some so-called “Conservative Christians” have a way of interpreting the Bible that manages to ignore scholarship and just make stuff up to suit their world view.
There was no such gate. And in any case the accepted modern view seems to be that the word is more likely to be “hawser”/“mooring rope” than camel - gimel, which literally means a camel, seems also to have been used in that sense and, talking to fishermen, Jesus was more likely to say “Easier to get a hawser through the eye of a needle” than refer to camels, which (though notoriously stubborn beasts) wouldn’t typically have been part of their day to day life - donkeys/asses being far more common.
Which shouldn’t need saying except to obscenely rich “conservative Christians.” Jesus is frequently concerned to emphasise that materialism is an obstacle to happiness, but as the son of a carpenter and addressing fishermen - rich enough, in fact, to own boats - his own background is resolutely middle class (as was pointed out by George Bernard Shaw, of all people).
3 Likes
I don’t think the reinterpretation destroys the meaning - to get into the small gate, camels would have to remove any luggage and crawl through on their knees. Similarly, rich people would have to leave their earthly goods behind if they wanted salvation - as Jesus had just called the rich man to do. Unfortunately, this explanation is unfounded and it’s probably referring to an absurd saying about literal needles and camels.
When Jesus heard this, He said to him, “One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. And Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
1 Like
Yes, but that’s still easier than getting the rich man into Heaven. What are we going to need? An Ariane-5? Or can we get away with a cheap Roskosmos job from Baikonur? And where do we start? Firing Trump will leave the field open to people like Cruz.
This Biblical metaphor thing is harder than it looks.
Interesting. I didn’t know about
“The suggestion is that the Greek word kamilos (‘camel’) should really be kamêlos, meaning ‘cable, rope’, as some late New Testament manuscripts actually have here.”
I can’t be bothered to go away and research it now but the words gimel and kamelos look to have a common origin, so whether it was simply transcription or whether it was a lack of knowledge of common technical terms around the Sea of Galilee 1st century CE is anybody’s guess.
Whatever, inventing imaginary gates that nobody thought worth mentioning in a desperate effort to justify the “prosperity gospel” is still a bit off, especially by the standards of people who elsewhere claim Biblical literacy and inerrancy!
2 Likes
Free market Jesus!
Sauna party Jesus!
As humble as Ben Carson though?
You’d think the guy making the plaque could have proofread it first. Spelling and kerning and capitalization, oh my!
4 Likes
Well, we’ll make it like a hostage exchange, except instead of hostages it’s annoying loudmouths. I bet they have someone they want rid of.
While I don’t agree that BB’s bandwagoning coverage of Trumpadump has made him any more popular as a candidate, I do think that all the thousands of stories about him in the corporate media have helped him strike a lot of people as a legitimate candidate. Just like, in reverse, the relative shutout of Sanders has surely helped to do the opposite to him.
4 Likes
[quote=“subextraordinaire, post:65, topic:77683, full:true”]
Well then, you and I have different definitions of evidence. From his ramblings, I just took it as evidence that this man has not read the Bible but just tries to parrot the greatest hits and can’t even be bothered to parrot them correctly. [/quote]
Apparently! I believe what can be measured, like votes for instance. I fully agree that Trump is parroting religion without actually practicing it with any substantial depth, just like most politicians, including Hillary. I just don’t believe it matters or that he should spend much time doing religious ‘homework’ when he doesn’t need to. Most Christians I know couldn’t recite a single Bible verse on demand. The general feeling seems to be that a preacher can read and interpret the Bible for the mass, providing a summarized general theme to follow, so that individuals need not memorize the text word for word. In essence, God wouldn’t care if you could recite the text, as long as accepted Jesus as your savior or such. I’m agnostic myself, by my parents were Baptist. I’ve been through church enough to understand how people go through the motions. I question why you’re trying to hold Trump to a higher standard on religion. Maybe you feel a president should be held to the highest standard in all things? I generally accept that president is merely human. They’ll have to pick which subjects to master. I’d honestly rather have a president spend their time master the art of the deal rather than reading the Bible. Pretty good straw-man burning, I know, but that is where I stand on the subject and despite Cruz’s best efforts, Trump has avoided making religion a major issue.
Irrational attacks against Trump only help him as he seems to have an uncanny ability to turn those around. Meanwhile I’m stuck in a weird state of cognitive dissonance. Both sides are chock full of unsavory characters and both Trump and Hillary have some big flaws. Trump at least nails it on the TPP and will be overall good for me over here in middle class land. I’ve been pulled over to the Republican side, fighting alongside people I’d never imagined I’d find common ground with. I really hope the two party system breaks down soon.
Well, I don’t view criticisms about a candidate as irrational attacks, although I know that this is how Trump and his people view any criticism of Trump. I also don’t believe that Trump has turned even a modest amount Democratic opponents into supporters as of yet.
3 Likes
Unless he follows through on the idea that the U.S. can just default on loans and walk away like a businessman might be able to, you mean.
2 Likes
Hey, if he can go bankrupt four times or whatever and still have a model-wife and his own private jet, surely it would be a good thing for him to make America go bankrupt too!
5 Likes
